Today's heating oil prices still have a way to go to reach the $1.98-a-gallon peak scaled in February 2000. But they are about 60 cents a gallon higher than what homeowners paid last February, according to the state Office of Policy and Management, and they have reached a level where a 200-gallon fill-up can cost $350.

During a cold winter such as this, heating oil at $1.75 a gallon has exacted a heavy toll. Several people have died in a vain effort to stay warm. The newly unemployed must wrestle with a rising expense they could well do without. Charities that provide heat for the working poor are themselves strapped for cash. And even middle-income households are passing up restaurant meals and trips to the mall, said one economist.

Higher prices act as a tax on consumers, making them less likely to make purchases. ``If high prices continue, the logical effect is to slow the economy,'' said Bruce Blakey, chief economist at Northeast Utilities.

An oil-fueled drag on the economy eventually will pinch local businesses. While many protect themselves against sharply rising oil prices by purchasing long-term supply contracts, all still feel the pain somewhere along the line. They pay more to ship goods. They sometimes pay more for petroleum-based raw materials. Or, they contend with lower sales because consumers have a little less cash to spend.

Even the largest oil companies get a little edgy when prices run up this swiftly. The stocks of Exxon Mobil Corp. and ChevronTexaco Corp. are both trading close to their 52-week lows. Analysts with a long-term view suspect today's spot price -- $36.36 a barrel for West Texas intermediate -- will lead to tomorrow's rush to produce more black gold; the scramble to produce more would result in a glut and consequently drive down prices and future earnings.

But, for the time being, energy markets are more worried about the short term. And, in the weeks to come, some say spot crude prices could rise above $40 a barrel; they could even rise -- for perhaps a day or two -- to $50 a barrel if Saddam Hussein were to sabotage Iraq's existing oil fields. And this short-term surge in spot crude prices has many struggling to heat their homes.

She sought help from the Bristol Community Organization, a nonprofit agency that helps area residents with their fuel bills. Bugryn, who lost her job at CIGNA Corp. in May and remains unemployed, qualified for help.

Hundreds of others have also sought help. In fact, the combination of high oil prices, low temperatures and rising unemployment has created unprecedented need for fuel assistance this winter.

The increased demand has stretched the resources at some of the state's largest fuel-distribution charities as well.

``The fuel banks are overwhelmed. It's hard even getting a phone call through,'' said Patricia Wrice, executive director of Operation Fuel, a nonprofit agency that raises money to help the working poor with winter fuel costs. Fuel banks in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and Torrington have all sought additional money.

Operation Fuel last year gave more than $680,500 to Connecticut fuel banks, and that was during a mild winter with low to moderate fuel prices. This year, the fuel bank has already disbursed close to $462,800.

At Connecticut businesses, rising heating oil prices have caused no such worries -- so far. Most ``lock in their prices'' with long-term delivery contracts, said Frank Johnson, executive director of the Manufacturing Alliance of Connecticut. Many also purchase long-term contracts for supplies tied to the price of oil. But if oil prices stay at their high levels through 2003, many might be forced to ``lock in'' at rates far less appetizing than those dictated in today's long-term contracts, Johnson said.

Optimists hold out hope that an oil glut is in store. At about $36 a barrel, oil is an extremely lucrative business -- if the price sticks. Formerly unprofitable wells are brought back into production. Companies and governments spend more on exploration. OPEC nations often start cheating on their previously agreed-upon production quotas. And, with striking Venezuelan oil workers expected to head back to work soon, 2 million barrels of daily production could, within the next year, return to the world markets, energy market analysts said.

But for now, the energy markets are spooked by today's lower inventories. Supplies in the Northeast are 36 percent below average levels set over the past five years; East Coast inventories are 24 percent below their five-year average, said Steven Guveyan, executive director of the Connecticut Petroleum Council.

In most years, refiners rebuild low inventories by buying oil on the spot markets. But today, refiners are reluctant to pay $36 a barrel for crude they might later have to sell at $26 to $28 a barrel. They are instead drawing down inventories further.